Disclaimer: I don't own CSI:NY.
Series: 'Kindred Spirits'.
Spoilers: Child's Play.
Child's Play
"I feel a bit left out."
With the amount of people who worked at NYPD – and the Crime Lab and 12th precinct in particular – that was a strange thing to hear, so it was no wonder it caught Jess's attention.
Stella was leaning against Don's desk, a report in her hand, and her partner was nowhere in sight.
"Why's that, Stel?" Jess asked.
"You ever heard of Laughing Larry?" Stella asked in response.
Jess frowned. "Erm … No. No, I don't think so."
Stella pointed at her. "Thank you! I'm not alone!"
"Good for you." Don commented, approaching them. "Alone in what?"
"Jess hasn't heard of Laughing Larry either." Stella told him in a slightly smug tone.
Don's jaw dropped open. "You've never heard of him?"
"Well, the name sounds vaguely familiar." Jess amended. "But I couldn't tell you where from."
With a heavy sigh, Don dropped the paperwork he was holding onto his desk and rounded hers, spinning her chair to face him before kneeling towards her. "Jessica, did you ever read comic books?"
Jess's face cleared. "That's where I've seen his name before." She caught Stella's gaze. "Oh, they were just ads in the back of the comics; no one actually buys anything from them …"
"I did." Don confirmed when she trailed off.
"Oh." Jess pulled a face. "Don, I hate to tell you this but … if it looks too good to be true, it probably is."
"Yeah, I know that now." Don grumbled. "Was there something you needed, Stell?"
"Yeah." Stella held up the report. "Not them. They were telling the truth."
"Dammit." Don sighed. "Now we just need to find who did do it."
"Was this the exploding cigar?" Jess asked, having heard about it on the grapevine.
Don nodded. "Looks like Laughing Larry was the original target."
"Well, if everyone else was as gullible as you," Jess grinned, "you've probably got a lot of suspects."
Don glared at her and stood up, muttering something that sounded vaguely like 'locker room'.
Jess winced and grinned at Stella. "Think I hit a nerve then?"
"Looks like it." Stella chuckled, leaving the report on his desk. "See you later, Jess."
Jess waved as she left and abandoned her paperwork in favour of following Don into the locker room. "Hey, you know I was just …" She stopped dead, a look of horror crossing her face. "What the hell happened?" She whispered.
Don caught sight of her expression in the mirror and his own darkened, the hand not holding his shirt moving down to the scar on his stomach. "A bomb."
"No." Jess sighed, approaching him slowly. "And would you stop? It's not that bad. I meant this." Her hand brushed against the wound on his back and he hissed in pain, flinching away from her. "You look like someone hit you with a flamethrower."
Don shrugged, wincing in the process. "Flamethrower … fireworks … same thing."
Jess gave him a look she usually reserved for her brothers and he flinched again.
"Alright! Larry gave us a name of someone who might have wanted to kill him – he owed them money apparently and … anyway, we got there and found an illegal fireworks factory. They split and one of them lit a match …" He trailed off. "You look like you want to shoot me."
"I don't want to." Jess said in a low voice. "But I might. What the hell were you thinking? Why didn't you call for back-up? Good God, Flack, you're always on my back about doing stupid things and taking stupid risks and then you turn around and do exactly the same thing! What are you smiling about?"
Don shrugged again, this time taking care to use the one furthest from the burn. "You really are protective of me."
"This isn't funny!" Jess snapped. "Sit down and I'll get something for it."
Don sat, glad she hadn't pushed the question. She was right; it was usually him who gave lectures like this. It wasn't that his colleagues didn't care, but it was nice to have someone that wasn't the captain on his back for once.
It was times like this he could almost let himself believe that she might have more than a platonic interest in him – if he wasn't horribly aware of the fact that she was so far out of his league he sometimes felt that he needed a telescope to see her.
But he'd take being her best friend if that was all she was offering.
The plan to move on by accepting the second best wasn't working quite as well.
Jess was completely oblivious to his thoughts as she pulled the first aid kit out of her locker. "I swear you're worse than all four of my brothers combined." She sat down next to him on the bench and nudged his arm. "Turn around."
With a sigh, Don twisted so he had his back to her. "Fine." He winced as the cool salve brushed against the burn. "Damn."
"Sorry." Jess murmured. "You really need to be more careful, Don. You'd have got these guys with or without all this."
"I know." Don admitted. "But I hate letting them get away."
"Yeah." Jess agreed, setting the salve down and fastening a bandage over it. "Me too." She sighed and took the opportunity of there being no one else around to slip her arms around his waist from behind, one hand resting protectively over his scar as she rested her head against his shoulder. "Just … please try to be more careful? For me?"
"I'd do anything for you." Don murmured.
Jess stiffened against him, sure she hadn't heard him correctly. "Pardon?"
"I said 'I think I can for you'." Don repeated. "What did you think I said?"
Jess relaxed again, feeling him return her embrace. "Nothing." She whispered. Wishful thinking.
Don pressed an absent-minded kiss against her forehead. Why can't I just tell her the truth?
AN: Thanks to everyone who wished me luck - the move went well and I'm now happily settled in at university, studying, for those of you who are interested, Primary Education specialising in Early Years.
I apologise for how short this is - I promise the next one's longer :) Review please!